Golden Sun: Aftermath
by Dauros16
Summary: A new threat seeks to gain the power of Alchemy. Will Felix and the others be enough to stop it? Feelings and tensions boil to the surface as the plot thickens. Will the companions hold solid? FelixSheba JennaIsaac MiaGaret. T for language and blood
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: I do not own Golden Sun or Golden Sun: The Lost Ages. Apart from the plot of this story and a few made up characters, everything else (settings, themes, etc.) belongs to Nintendo.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Farewells and Beginnings

The sunlight had always hit the town of Vale like a beam of intense energy. But it had never been this hot.

Felix glanced upwards towards the bright sun, and reminded himself that he had seen and felt hotter days, and he had been wearing pieces of heavy, hot armor. Still, his body was still used to the cold winters of Prox.

What an ironic thought. Felix had traveled to all corners of the world, through the Western Sea, up mountains and down gorges, through tunnels, and even underwater, and yet this hot day was the thing that caused him discomfort.

Felix returned to the task at hand. He was currently nailing in the boards of a chicken coop, and doing a pretty good job of it, if he did say so himself.

After the destruction of Vale, due to Mount Aleph's collapse, the town had salvaged what they could from the ruins. There were enough supplies and food saved, that the people decided that they could relocate the town to further south of the great mountain. There they began to reconstruct the town as best they could, as they had to work with an unfamiliar landscape. The Wise One's warning had saved everyone from what had been dubbed, 'The Great Cataclysm', and they weren't complaining about the change.

Felix held two nails in his mouth, and measured the third against the side of the wall he was building. Satisfied on the placement, he proceeded to hammer in the nail, humming a tune as he did.

Speaking of changes, Felix thought, he was going to have to get used to the lack of some of his former companions, on the quest to light the lighthouses.

Felix remembered what had happened weeks ago it like it was yesterday…

_Felix, Garet, Isaac, Jenna, and Piers stood at the newly constructed gates of Vale. Facing them were Sheba, Mia, Kraden and Ivan, all dressed in traveling clothes. Everyone was looking rather solemn, as if at the bedside of a dying person._

_Kraden spoke. His voice seemed magnified in the silence. "Well my friends, it appears our time together has finally come to an end."_

_Jenna had tears in her eyes. Garet shuffled his feet. Isaac ran a hand through his hair. Piers stood with his hands behind his back. Felix nodded._

_Kraden turned and smiled at Jenna, who was wiping her eyes on her sleeve._

"_I would have rather thought you were tired of me, Jenna. After all, you spent the most time around me."_

_Jenna gave a watery smile. Kraden turned to Felix and Isaac._

"_And thank you both for having me along. It was a wonderful time."_

_Felix laughed. "I'm pretty sure tramping through deserts and mountains would be classified as something akin to torture."_

"_Ah. Well, we all have our own views." Kraden replied, with a twinkle in his eye. Garet spoke up, looking at the scholar._

"_Are you really returning to Tolbi, Kraden?"_

_Kraden nodded, and his expression became more serious._

"_Yes…With Lord Babi's death at hand, people have been trying to choose a new successor. I'm sure that Iodem will need me now more than ever."_

_Sheba spoke up. "Yes, and I also wish to see Master Iodem again. I've been away from Lalivero quite a while, and I wish to see him again."_

_Felix felt a knot form in his throat as he looked at Sheba, and felt it contract as she didn't even glance at him while speaking. Over the last few days, Felix had noticed these similar symptoms manifesting themselves whenever he was in near proximity with Sheba. He knew it was foolish to expect her to stay. After all, Tolbi was her home, more so than Vale in any case. Still…_

_Ivan was speaking now._

…_with Hama now. Master Hammet doesn't really need me around right now; and I'd like to get to know my sister a bit more."_

"_Trust me Ivan." Garet said stoically. "They're no great shakes."_

_This was cause enough for a laugh from everyone, but Garet, in the group, after which Kraden looked round at Piers, who had remained silent this entire time._

"_And what about you Piers? Lemuria is quite a ways away without Sheba to _Teleport_ you."_

_The wayward foreigner sighed._

"_I've decided to stay in Vale for awhile. If I go back now, Lord Hydros will be in worse states than he was when I left the first time. Time means nothing in Lemuria, and I'm sure Conservato and the other politicians would all love a chance to sentence me to permanent incarceration for lighting the lighthouses."_

_Garet looked as if he were about to say something sharp about Conservato, when Jenna cut across._

"_You'll be welcome here for as long as you want to stay Piers."_

_Isaac spoke up. "Yeah, you can stay at my house. We have an extra bedroom."_

_Piers smiled, and nodded at Isaac. Garet, meanwhile, had turned to Mia._

"_You're heading back to Ixmil, aren't you?" He asked, looking down. Mia nodded._

"_I have too. Even if the Mercury water heals any ailment, I still must act as Ixmil's guardian and healer."_

_Garet didn't say anything. Mia laughed._

"_Besides, I would think that you'd be tired of protecting me. Or are you forgetting the Jupiter Lighthouse incident?"_

_Garet grimaced. "I'm trying to"_

_This elicited another round of laughter, and this time even Garet joined in. When it died down, Kraden shouldered his pack._

"_Well, if we stay here much longer, it will be too dark to see where we're going. Time for us to go."_

_Isaac looked the scholar in the eye. "Is this it Kraden? Is this the true end of our adventure? Is this really goodbye?"_

_Kraden put a hand on the blond teen, and tousled his hair a little._

"_Everyone's adventure ends sometime Isaac. But I have a feeling that your _journey_ is just starting."_

_With that, the scholar turned to leave. Holding his head high, he stepped on the open path that led away from the village._

_One by one, Mia and Ivan followed. Then Sheba began to leave._

"_Sheba!" Felix called, unable to contain himself any longer._

_The sandy haired teenaged girl turned, and looked at Felix. As her eyes met his, Felix found himself unable to speak. The knot in his throat had returned. Struggling to say what he had been trying to say for the last few weeks, he finally settled for a husky,_

"_Good luck."_

_Sheba looked confused. Then she nodded, turned, and headed after the rest of the group. She didn't look around once._

_Felix turned away from the leaving party to find that the rest of the group was staring at him. Garet and Isaac stared a Felix as if he were crazy. Piers and Jenna however, looked on with sad understanding._

"_Come on." Felix said, unable to bear their looks anymore. "Let's go help out."_

_The remaining five walked back to the village._

And now they were gone. But Felix couldn't bring himself to feel sad. A time of prosperity and peace was settling into the world, at least as far as Vale was concerned. Apart from the rebuilding, Vale was settling into its new life comfortably. No more fighting. No more adventures. No more quests.

_Perfect_. Felix thought, and went into the house for breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: _ Hello true believers and newcomers alike! I just wanted to call something to your attention. This story of Golden Sun might not correspond in some ways to the manner in which people played. For example, there might be Djinn that nobody ever heard of in this story. Or people have different Psynergy. I just want to point out; that this is story is from the way that I played it. I appreciate input as always, but please, please, __**please**__ don't tell me that I'm doing something wrong, or ask why somebody doesn't have this one Psynergy. Thank you, and have a good day. Oh, and enjoy!_

Chapter 2

Dreams, and Early-Morning Discussions

The base of what had once been Mt. Aleph sparkled in the early morning light. The mountain was gone, and only a few craggy rocks stood where the once proud titanic crag had been.

When the Golden Sun had shone on the peak of Mt. Aleph, a momentary vision of wonder could be seen for miles around. The entire peak of the mountain had turned the color of molten gold, and had glittered with little rivulets of iridescent light.

Soon afterwards though, the entire mountain sank into the earth, collapsing into a large crater. There were no casualties however, as far as anyone knew. The warning of the omnipotent Wise One had averted what would have been a great tragedy.

The crater, which spanned a great deal of land, was quickly being reclaimed by the land now that the mountain had stopped collapsing. Grass and small flowers grew in bountiful clumps all around. And the mountain was completely gone.

A young woman sat on a rock near the crater. Her auburn hair glistened in the twilight, as the wind rippled through it. A smile was on her face, and her eyes were closed as she tilted her head to absorb the sunlight. The sunlight on her cheeks turned her face golden.

A shadow crossed the girl's face as the wind rippled, bringing a group of dark clouds over the sun. She shivered, and her eyes opened. Suddenly, she gave a great cry, as white flames consumed her.

"JENNA!!"

Isaac sat upright in bed, sweating profusely. Sunlight blinded him as he sat up, and he squinted into the glare. Judging by the light's angle, Isaac estimated the day had barely started. The initial fear that had been felt gave way to irritation, which gnawed at the teenager as he swung his legs out and dropped off the bed onto the floor.

Going over to the nightstand by his bed, Isaac grabbed a shirt and pulled it on, suddenly feeling wide awake. Ever since the traveling group of Adepts had returned to Vale, Isaac had tried to get used to relaxing, but it wasn't easy. After months of action, inaction seemed downright lazy. But Isaac wasn't complaining about that. He would swap action for peace any day.

Still, Isaac had not been sleeping well ever since the group returned to Vale. The same nightmare interrupted his dreams every night. Every time Isaac had woken up, always bad-tempered. And it always involved Jenna.

Isaac sighed, and blew a great breath. He had noticed his growing feelings for the Flame Adept, but he had chalked it up to the closeness of comrades whilst they traveled to the Mars Lighthouse. But after the return to Vale, he had started to notice other symptoms when he was close to Jenna lately. Quickness of breath. Butterflies fluttering about in his chest. Knots in his stomach or throat. The need to be near her. Bit by bit, Isaac had come to realize just how much he cared about Jenna.

Isaac had partway expected this. After all, he and Jenna had been close friends for years. Isaac had striven hard to try and rescue her from Alex and the others. He had no idea however, how much this simple feeling would affect him.

The problem was, every time Isaac had even _thought_ about telling Jenna this, his brain seemed to decide that it had better stop working or else it would explode. And it was a small wonder. Jenna was a…complicated individual. She had lived tough for most of her whole life, after Felix and her parents supposedly died. She had hardened herself from the outside world. After the events on the peak of the Mars Lighthouse, she had opened up a little, but not enough so that Isaac knew his affection would be returned.

Groaning, Isaac sank into a chair across the table from an already-awake Piers, who was reading a book at the table.

The Lemurian was currently residing in Isaac's house, and slept on the bottom floor. During the day, Piers contributed greatly to work on the house and village in the restoration effort in Vale, getting up early, and working long into the night. Isaac's mother, Dora, absolutely loved the Water Adept, and was constantly trying to tempt him with some of her food. Piers had also made easy friends with the village, and Isaac was glad to see the Water Adept progressing so smoothly.

Piers didn't look up from his book when Isaac groaned, but he spoke nonetheless.

"Sleep well?"

Isaac glared at him from across the table. Piers had begun to develop a sense of humor during his stay in Vale, probably from being around people who lived life to its fullest every day, not having longevity like the said Lemurian. Isaac didn't appreciate his use of it here, however. He grunted noncommittally in response.

"Guess not." Piers said, still not looking up from his book. "Nightmares again?"

Piers was the only one with whom Isaac had shared his bad dream, and he had not make any comments that Garet would have been prone to say. What was more; Isaac felt that the dream meant something, and what better person to ask than someone whose culture dabbled in obscure Psynergy?

"_A premonition?" Piers asked, after Isaac had recounted his story. "I doubt it. You wouldn't be able to see premonitions anyway."_

"_Gee, thanks." Isaac muttered._

"_It has nothing to do with ability." Piers said soothingly. "I meant, you don't have the Psynergy capabilities. At least not without the Djinn, and they all went away."_

_Isaac had nodded, and remembered how his and everyone else's Djinn had set out to explore the world. It seemed like a silly ambition for creatures so small, but Isaac didn't dispute the matter._

"_Well, who would have premonition abilities?" He asked, already knowing the answer._

"_Sheba." Piers said at once. "Ivan. A few Water Adepts have 'seen', so maybe myself and Mia. Alex might have."_

_Isaac shuddered at the thought of the cold Adept._

Whatever the case, Isaac and Piers had soon come to the conclusion that the dreams, whatever they might be, were not prophetic. That didn't stop them from intruding into Isaac's nighttime trances however.

"They get clearer each night." Isaac said, as he poured himself some milk, and sitting back down. "And they are always from the same angle."

Piers idly turned a page in the book. "You could try talking to–"

Isaac interrupted before Piers could suggest what he had suggested three times already. "If I talk to Jenna about the dreams, she'll just get suspicious. And it will probably creep her out too. What do I tell her? 'Hi Jenna, lovely weather we're having. Oh, and by the way, I'm having dreams of you burning to death.'?"

"Duly noted." Piers assented. He turned another page of the book, and then spoke again. "Do you want to spar today?"

"Might as well…" Isaac said, glad for the sudden change of subject. "Mom doesn't need us for another three hours. Should be enough time to–"

"Two hours." Piers replied, tilting his head to the side while he looked at the book. "The merchants are coming in today, and she wants us there."

"Ah." Isaac said, walking over to the dresser, and pulling out the sword Excalibur. "Then we best get things started."


End file.
